From left to right - Kopano Gumbi (Liberty), Hawa Moya (JSE), Team “Genius Investors are Back” from Maritzburg College - Yusuf Mahomed and Keyoolin Padayachee and teacher Jean Van Heeswijk. The team walked away with prizes for the Equity portfolio in March and April of this year.
The JSE Education department honoured winning teams from the KZN region at a breakfast ceremony held recently at Garden Court, Marine Parade Hotel in Durban. The ceremony celebrated the stellar performance of three of the province’s schools in the JSE/Liberty Investment Challenge.
Teams from Maritzburg College, Orient Islamic School and Eden College Durban proved they have a keen eye for investment when they took top standings in their respective portfolios in March, April and May of this year. The learners in each team were awarded R500 each for best performance, and a further R500 was awarded to their mentoring teachers as well as their schools.
“We are honoured to celebrate the success of these bright young individuals. To achieve such results requires dedication and consistent hard work from all team members and the learners should be commended for this. The JSE Education Department would like to congratulate all the KZN winners. We hope other learners in the province and across South Africa will be encouraged to learn about the fundamentals of investing and be motivated to attain similar success as their peers,” says Senior Investment Challenge Coordinator, Idris Seedat.
The winning teams:
Team “Genius Investors are Back” from Maritzburg College walked away with prizes for the Equity portfolio in March and April of this year. Led by teacher Jean Van Heeswijk, this team has set a great benchmark for other contenders in this portfolio, putting KZN on the map. “We are extremely proud of our learners. They are doing a great job of representing not only our school but also the KZN province. We are confident they will continue to achieve success in the Investment Challenge with the aim of emerging as one of the overall winners at the end of the competition”, says Van Heeswijk.
Greyville based Orient Islamic School claimed top honours for the Speculator portfolio in March and for the Equity portfolio in May. The team has demonstrated an aptitude for share trading and an outstanding ability to mange investments by achieving a 9.46% growth in the high-risk Speculator portfolio. According to team leader Zaahirah Bassa, “Our wins thus far in the Investment Challenge is definitely a step in the right direction for the team. I am proud of what we have achieved as a team and we will continue to work hard to maintain our position in the competition. We would like to thank the JSE for acknowledging the success of the province by hosting this breakfast. ”
Eden College Durbans’ all-girl team “Eden Securities” have proven their finance savvy by achieving impressive wins in April and May for the high-risk Speculator portfolio. The team achieved an astounding 19.20% growth in the May competition, a vast improvement on their growth of 8.73% achieved in April, a feat the team is proud of. “The school is extremely proud of the girls and supporting them all the way. We are confident that they will maintain the standards they have set and continue to work hard in order to claim victory in the final round. This breakfast hosted by the JSE and Liberty gives the team a taste of what it would be like if successful as an overall winner in September and should motivate the team to achieve this goal, “says teacher and mentor, Phyllis Welsch.
About JSE/Liberty Investment Challenge:
The JSE/Liberty Investment Challenge is the largest financial literacy initiative in South Africa with the aim to educate high school learners and university students on the ins and outs of trading on the stock market. The competition runs until the end of September and is open to all learners from any South African high school. Students from universities and independent colleges are also eligible to participate. Income (low risk), Equity Growth (moderate risk) and Speculator (high risk) are three of the risk portfolios from which high school learners can choose to compete while university students can only compete in the Speculator Portfolio. All school entrants must be in teams of four and have to be supervised by a teacher or mentor. University teams must consist of a minimum of two members and a maximum of four.
To register, each team will be required to pay a fee of R120 per team per portfolio entered for schools and R150 per team for universities. To find out more visit the JSE/Liberty Investment Challenge website:http://schools.jse.co.za orhttp://university.jse.co.za and the new interactive mobisite: http://schools.jse.co.za/mobile orhttp://university.jse.co.za/mobileor contact the Investment Challenge Co-ordinators on (+27)11 – 520 7116/ 7344/ 7168. For further information, registration forms and interaction visit the Facebook and Twitter pages.
